CAPUTO: Red Wings need to address sloppy play

By Pat Caputo, Digital First Media

Saturday, April 20, 2013

The Red Wings’ streak of 21 straight years making the playoffs is in jeopardy.

It was clear during a 3-2 loss at Calgary Wednesday night why.

Hockey is the ultimate game of persistence. The old saying of it being a test of will more than skill especially rings true at the NHL level. Skill isn’t the Red Wings’ issue right now. It’s their will. Unlike their glorious past, they cave into the moment consistently, especially against lesser teams.

I like Jimmy Howard as a goalie, and have written and said many times I feel he is capable of leading the Red Wings to a Stanley Cup championship some day. He just signed a six-year contract to be the Red Wings’ goalie long into the future. I thought it was the right move by the organization.

However, Howard’s mishandling of the puck, leading to two easy goals by Calgary during the third period Wednesday, was inexcusable and indefensible.

Afterward, he was quoted as saying he is “human” and it’s “on me.”

Both those statements are true, but not explanations for what transpired. There are none.

In the hockey sense, a goalie, now being paid like few in the NHL, being “human” means there are times he is going to be beaten by the best in the world. You know, like that absolutely stunning move by Chicago’s Patrick Kane during a shootout earlier this season. An odd deflection or bounce…that type of thing.

Howard is not supposed to fumble the puck behind the net like he is doing hockey’s version of a Keystone Kops routine, and then just throw his hands in the air like a rec league goalie, while being scored upon in the heat of a playoff race.

A six-year contract means Howard is expected to not only steal a game or two here and there, but a playoff series or two. Instead, his inexplicable bad play in the third period Wednesday put a Red Wings’ playoff berth in even more risk.

It’s not the Red Wings don’t have enough talent to make the playoffs in the Western Conference. It’s not they lack a quality coach.

It’s not as if there aren’t enough parts remaining from their deep playoff runs in the not-so-distant past. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg are still on this team, in their prime and playing well. Right there, the Red Wings have an edge over most teams.

The defense, reputed to be mediocre coming into the season with the departures of Nicklas Lidstrom and Brad Stuart, hasn’t been bad.

The Red Wings sometimes lack goal scoring to the point it is painful, and they’ve had their share of injuries.

The bigger issue has nothing to do with the nuts and bolts of the roster, or how it is has been constructed, but rather a lack of consistency in effort the Red Wings put forward on game night.

Hard work, on the ice in the competition of an NHL game, and the Red Wings have become a spotty occurrence.

Remember when the Red Wings seemed like their season was getting lost in a hurry, but then they went to Anaheim and beat the Ducks, one of the NHL’s top teams, in back-to-back games? Or their two wins this season over still-formidable Vancouver?

Ah, then there is the tale of Calgary and Columbus, the dreaded double “C’s,” if you will. The Red Wings have lost their last seven games to Calgary and Columbus combined,. They’ve literally made the Bluejackets’ season. They recently passed the Red Wings in the standings for the final Western Conference playoff spot. The Flames pulled the chute on this year long ago.

After facing Vancouver Saturday, the Red Wings have three home games next week - vs. Phoenix, Los Angeles and Nashville. Only the Kings figure to be in the playoffs. Then, a finale at Dallas. The schedule sets up well for the Red Wings to make the playoffs for the 22nd straight year, but do they have enough will?

It’s a legitimate question in the aftermath of the debacle at Calgary.

Pat Caputo is a senior sports reporter and a columnist for Digital First Media. Contact him at pat.caputo@oakpress.com and read his blog at theoaklandpress.com. You can follow him on Twitter @patcaputo98